jahnyc

The stats are not particularly surprising, except with regard to Butler. I thought the play of the o-line improved after he came back from injury. His stats are interesting, lowest score but a decent yard per run number. If he really did not play well last year, then I do not understand why we should expect that he will play better at right tackle (or why the Bills extended his contract last year). I am glad that the Bills addressed the interior of the o-line, but it is clear that the tackle position will be the next position that will need to be addressed. I do not think that we can reasonably expect Walker and Butler to excel at LT and RT, respectively. I am sure that opposing coaching staffs are drooling over attacking our tackles, our rookies in the intererior of the line and our inexperienced players at tight end. Not a recipe for keeping Trent Edwards healthy.

I think the o-line will be a real problem next year, but with future potential. We will miss Peters, and moving Walker to LT weakens both tackle positions. Wood and Levitre may become very good players, but it is unreasonable to assume that they both will be strong starters next year since they are inexperienced and will be learning new positions. With Peters, Dockery, Fowler/Preston and Royal all departing, there will a lot of new faces on the o-line next year, and they will need time to develop and gel. Unfortunately, our offense may be stymied while they try to do so.

I understand your point, but I really don't think this is about Brandon. Even if he is exceptionally competent, he has to rely on people who have made poor evaluations/decisions for years (i.e., Guy). Also, with cash to cap and other financial constraints, do the Bills really have the ability to compete? Sometimes I wonder.

I don't understand these types of posts. How can any of us evaluate Russ Brandon and the front office at this point? Who knows about the players that have been drafted or the other moves that have been made. I don't even know if Brandon is making all of the decisions, or if he is, when he was given this power. A couple of things I do know. First, Brandon does not have a background in scouting or prior GM experience. Second, some of the people in the front office in key positions are the same people who have been making poor evaluations for years. Third, the Bills have not made the playoffs in ten years. I really hope Brandon has success and our draft turns out to be a great draft. It is time for some positive results. Until this happens, I will have my doubts about our front office.

Some thoughts below. 1. I think this draft was weaker than many of us realized. The top ten in the first were not significantly better than the players picked at the bottom of the first. Many of the analysts were commenting on the overall weakness of this draft. Not a bad idea to trade up into the second under those circumstances. 2. Not sure I understand taking a guard in the first and in the second. I thought Butler was decent. Will they move him to RT? Is there a message here? Weird since Butler was extended last year. 3. Not to state the obvious, but Maybin is the key to this draft. This will be a great opportunity to evaluate the acumen of our talent evaluators since there were a number of similarly ranked defensive ends available when we picked Maybin (i.e., Ayers, Brown and Orakpo). I am concerned about his boom/bust potential. With the 11th pick in the first round (and with all of the money that he will be paid), I would want to draft as much of a sure thing as possible. Maybin, only starting one year at approximately 226 pounds, seems like a project and anything but a sure thing. 4. Are the Bills sending Whitner a message? Clearly, if Byrd can play and start at FS, Whitner will be back at SS. I can't imagine he can be happy about this, paritcularly since I thought there was concern that Whitner was getting too beat up at SS. I think the reality is that the Bills did not think they were getting enough plays from the FS position (i.e., interceptions), including when Whitner played at that position. 5. Interesting that none of Edwards, Boldin, Schefler were traded this weekend. It is hard to trade players when teams know that they are being shopped. I think trading Peters was terrible, but at least the Bills were able to get something in return (not enough, of course). 6. How can the Bills go into the season with Walker at LT and Bell/Chambers at RT? Maybe there will be another answer (i.e., Jones), but this seems like a disaster waiting to happen. It was weird to draft a second guard that may not get any playing time instead of a tackle. 7. Will Ellison be the starter again? This seems like a another problem area that still needs to be addressed. Our DT tackle situation is poor as well after Stroud. Johnson was something of a bust and McCargo has done nothing. No DTs drafted?

1. The Bills picked Wood and Levitre. The latter is projected inside as a guard. With Butler at RG, who plays left guard and center? The Bills have Wood, Levitre, Hangartner and McKinney to compete for those spots. I assume that Chambers will compete with Bell for RT. Is the plan to move Butler to RT? Will Levitre play tackle? Why two interior picks and no RT or LT? 2. I thought Whitner was moving to free safety, in part to protect him. Will Byrd be the new FS and Whitner will return to SS? 3. Who will be playing at TE? I can't believe that Fine will be the starter. 4. What about LB? Will Ellison remain the starter? Overall, another strange draft from the Bills. I do not understand the Byrd selection or taking two guards on the first day.

If Byrd can play left tackle, then we did okay.

I am not worried. Any mock by the Bills' front office has got to be completely different than how things really play out.

I had understood that the Bills paid TO a $4.0 millon signing bonus. If accurate, then this cannot be true.

I still fear that the Bills will take Pettigrew at #11, but I hope the selection is a DE. If it is, I expect that they will try to trade up from #28 to nab Pettigrew with their second pick in the first round.

I think the drafting of players has been okay, maybe slightly above average or average, but the Bills are atrocious at acquiring free agent talent. Dockery, Spencer Jonhson, Fowler, A. Thomas, Webster, Peerless Price, Reyes, Whittle; the list is long. The talent lost to free agency or from trades is becoming a real problem (and clearly is superior to the talent acquired). Peters, Winfield, Greer, Clements, Pat Williams--a pretty good group of players. Factor in the constant need to replace players lost, and it becomes clear why this team cannot improve.

I agree that the Bills have more important needs, but I have a bad feeling that he will be the pick at #11.

Chambers recently turned 30. He seems to be a decent backup, but I don't think he should be starting. He was a free agent this offseason, and the Bills re-signed him. I wonder if any other teams were interested in signing him. I don't recall hearing his name linked to any visits/teams.

Maybe it all depends on what you are satisfied with as a fan. For some of us, the goal is the playoffs and the Superbowl. Others seem to be happy watching the Bills play each week during the season, win or lose. I have been optimistic at various points during the last 10 years (the time since we last made the playoffs), but this is the most pessimistic I have ever been. It is painful watching this team and the front office. Decisions seem to be made based on money more than any other reason (getting rid of players and keeping Jauron) and the overall uncertainty about the future of the franchise hangs over things like a big black cloud. It does not help that home games are being played in Toronto. Over the last 10 years, the drafting of players has been average, but every other football related area (i.e., free agent acquisitions and coaching) has been terrible. The current front office seems to be incompetent, and this does not bode well for future improvement.

The only real bright spots on the team are the skill positions (WR and RB) and the corners, but I am not sure for how long. Unfortunately, Parrish may be traded and Owens is probably a Bill for only one year. With regard to the corners, McGee is a free agent next year and I doubt he will be re-signed. Not many are talking about Edwards. It will be interesting to see if develops further this year. Overall, I see much more potential for a poor record than the Bills vying for a playoff spot. Having to pick in the top five next year will be devastating to this team with all of the guaranteed money that will be required to sign that pick.

Why does everyone think that if we get rid of Kelsay, Simpson, Parrish, McCargo (on top of already getting rid of Peters) that the Bills will find replacements that are better? It takes a competent front office to do that, and we do not have one. I could undertand these moves if we had young (and better) players on the roster ready to replace all of these players, but we don't. In addition, this is not the beginning of free agency with possible replacements ready to be acquired. Free agency is over for the players that were highly coveted. I am not suggesting that any of these players are above average performers, but this seems more like a salary dump than anything else (without the hope of spending any money that becomes available as a result (this year or next year)).

This is getting stupid and ugly. You can't fix everything in the draft. The Bills will be lucky to get one or two players that become decent starters (eventually). Why are they creating so many holes that cannot possibly be filled before the season starts? This team is not rebuilding, it is cratering.

Let's see how these tackles develop over time. About ten years ago the Bills had a RT tackle named Robert Hicks who looked great for one year, and then was out of football a couple of years later.

Not easy finding good offensive tackles. I couple of years ago I was hoping the Bills would draft Winston Justice. He was drafted by Philly and I think he gave up five or six sacks in one game against the Giants. I guess things are not working out too well for him in Philly.

I don't think Peters will fail miserably in Philly. The Eagles have more talent on the o-line than the Bills, a good offensive system and coaching, and a pretty good veteran quarterback. This should set up Peters for the potential for success with the Eagles. He will be facing strong defenses with the Giants and the Cowboys, which could pose challenges for him. After listening to some of his interviews, I would be more concerned that he will have difficulty handling the Philly press and fans. He is not coming across well, and I would have limited his access to the press. I am also starting to wonder whether Peters is the type that can be easily manipulated, particularly by an agent (i.e., Parker). It would explain a lot.

If Peters plays at a pro bowl level for a number of years (and plays under the terms of his new deal with Philly) then it was a terrible trade. Everything else is secondary, including the value of the 28th pick in the first round.

The quote was that Philly made the best trade in the last 10 years. The title of my post was misleading, it is not Philly's best trade in the last 10 years (but, again, the best overall trade in the NFL in the last 10 years).

and that Brandon should be fired on the spot for trading Peters to Philly. Apparently, this is from a league source not affiliated with the Bills or Eagles.

You forgot to mention the most important points made by King: (i) Philly got the "major edge" in the trade and (ii) it would be going "too far" to trade Parrish. I think we are being set up with this tid bit of information from Peter King. The Bills are going to draft Pettigrew even though they know it will be unpopular with many fans.

It may have been the "right" thing on some level, but in terms of the overall performance of the team and wins and losses in the near term, it will hurt significantly. Also, there are two sides to every story, I would really like to hear more about what happened here from both sides.